Thursday, April 16, 2009

How to Make a Face-- the Preparation

Whew! No nightmares last night about missed college assignment deadlines! "Hey, wait a minute, Ang," you say, "didn't you graduate college in 1988?" Yes. Yes, I did. However, yesterday's to-do list threw me into a time warp, right back to my procrastination glory days during freshman year. Okay, quit snickering, I know I've always been a procrastination queen. Freshman year was simply my peak! I'd write English 101 compositions at the breakfast table . . . and my class was an early one, say 8:30a.m. Some of those essays were my best ever, wish I had saved them. Ah, but they did not come easy if you consider how I spent the time from the assignment of the topic until the actual writing of it. I did a lot of "writing" in my head, erasing and re-writing, thinking and re-thinking, searching for the perfect opening line, constructing a meaningful outline, letting the whole mess percolate at the back of my mind while doing other things. When absolutely no ideas were appearing, I'd take advantage of the dormitory's seemingly unlimited supply of hot water and stand under the steaming stream of water in hopes that one of those drops would beat some sense (or ideas) into my noggin.

You ask again, "Why would you be thinking about all that?" It's yet another convoluted story from me, don't ya know :) I was working on an art class lesson all day, kept stumbling over finding the right outline, and figured the whole thing would trigger one of those OMG-I-forgot-to-drop-the-class-and-now-I-have-to-take-the-final-exam nightmares. I get those occasionally, even now. The art lesson in question is for a visit to the art classes at James and Kate's school today. I'll be in visiting the art teacher's room and doing an activity with all the classes. What an opportunity to share a love of creating things! What an opportunity to talk about rules and why some of them are meant to be broken! What an opportunity to talk about discovering yourself and not being afraid to try new things! What an opportunity to talk about all the colors and patterns and magnificence of nature, let alone humanity's embellishments of it!

What a windbag I must be if I thought I could fit all that and more into one 35 minute session, LOL! Good grief! I've spent the last month mulling over all these thoughts from time to time, trying to make an outline. Ha! Thank goodness, I'd already bought some air dry modeling clay to use with them, because the outline has finally been narrowed down to "How to Make a Face Bead". Actually, that might even be narrowed down even further to "How to Make a Face." After a trial run with James and Kate last night, I'm thinking a small face bead might be a bit too involved for small hands. . .but small hands could probably navigate the task on a slightly bigger scale. With a slightly larger than focal bead size clump of clay, it'll be easier to smooth in cheeks and add eyes and noses.

Ahem. Rule Number 1-- follow some rules until you need to change them!

Speaking of rules and such, here are a few quotes I found and pasted onto today's handout (yeah, literally, with Elmer's, because I don't know how to add sideways quotes along a margin surrounding the main text):

He who has imagination without learning has wings but no feet. --Joseph Joubert

I saw an angel in the marble and carved until I set him free. --Michelangelo

I found I could say things with colors and shapes that I couldn't say any other way- things I had no words for. --Georgia O'Keeffe

When my daughter was about seven years old, she asked me one day what I did at work. I told her I worked at the college- that my job was to teach people how to draw. She stared at me, incredulous, and said, "You mean they forget?" -- Howard Ikemoto

All art requires courage. -- Anne Tucker

Whoops! 6:45a.m. ! Looks like I'm running out of time this morning, so I'll attempt to share the "How to Make a Face" outline and pictures with you in tomorrow's post :)